Ebola: Spanish Prime Minister asks for trust in health workers.
Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday urged the public to remain calm and allow healthcare professionals to continue their work after another nurse was hospitalized as a precaution following a colleague's Ebola infection.
MADRID (Reuters) Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday urged the public to remain calm and allow healthcare professionals to continue their work after another nurse was hospitalized as a precaution following a colleague's Ebola infection.
Authorities confirmed on Wednesday that a nurse who also worked caring for two deceased missionaries is under observation at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid after developing a persistent fever.
The prime minister, in his first statements since learning of the virus infection, asked for trust in health officials and promised "total transparency" in providing information to the public.
"Right now, what we have to do is be vigilant and remain calm," Rajoy said during a session in Congress in response to a question from the Socialist leader, Pedro Sánchez.
Rajoy stated that a monitoring committee has been created to ensure coordination between officials from the autonomous community of Madrid, the federal government, and European institutions, with whom he said he speaks daily.
"I ask that you let healthcare professionals work, that we trust them; they have a well-deserved reputation. Spanish healthcare is one of the best in the world," declared the head of government.
The infected nurse cared for two Spanish religious figures who contracted Ebola in West Africa, were repatriated in August and September, and died at the Carlos III hospital.
Spain has become the focus of attention for the international medical community since the confirmation of the first Ebola virus infection outside of West Africa.
(By Emma Pinedo and Raquel Castillo)